


Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal

by castelia



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Singing, gratuitous home alone references, julie and the boys watch christmas movies, no ships here we die like sunset curve, reference to a dysfunctional family, this is a result of me watching home alone during my jatp hyperfixation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:36:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28250265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/castelia/pseuds/castelia
Summary: “I always expected it to just be there. All my flannel and country CD’s and worn text books for school, stored in my mess of a room. It’s gone. They’re gone.”The wind picks up and disperses footprints left behind on the sand.“It would’ve been nice to hug them and say goodbye, that’s all,” he finishes, avoiding her gaze.(Or: Julie and the boys watch Home Alone and it leads to Reggie seeking out the truth of what happened to his parents.)
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Julie Molina & Reggie Peters
Comments: 6
Kudos: 122





	Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal

**  
1991  
  
**

For normal families, a Christmas dinner is a happy time spent with other relatives, good food, and a Christmas tree. For Reggie’s family, it’s an indifferent occasion on good years and a nightmare on bad ones.

This year, they’re sitting at the dining room table—just him and his parents, no other relatives. They’re not exactly eating a fancy meal, but it’s not microwaved pizza either, so that’s a win. His parents are well into the wine when their conversation slowly drifts to Bad Topics. Reggie winces, aware it’s about to get ugly, and he’s proven right.

He’s struck by the fact that he’s the kid, thirteen years of age, but his parents are acting half that whenever they fight with each other. They’re petty and cruel and _loud_. He’s relieved when it’s over, his father storming out of the house and his mother following suit after she tells Reggie she’s _just going away for a little bit, you’ll be alright for an hour or two, won’t you?_

Both parents gone, Reggie sits on the couch, bored. He wonders what to do—until it hits him. Eagerly, he grabs the VHS tape he needs.

Home Alone. A Christmas movie, so that way he can at least have some of the spirit (though he has to snort at the coincidence of the name). It’s a popular movie that came out last year but he hasn’t watched it yet.

He settles in for a nice night after all that shouting, comforted by the fact that it’ll be at least two hours until his parents get home.

* * *

**Present  
  
**

“Merry Christmas, you guys,” Julie beams. “I know that you can’t eat or be seen so you can’t join our Christmas dinner, but I thought we could watch some movies on my laptop.”

“That sounds great,” Alex says, smiling, as Reggie and Luke join in with affirmatives.

“Alright,” Julie says once they have set up. For one night, and one night only, she has lifted her ‘stay off of my bed’ rule. It’s cramped but they all manage to fit. “Which one should we watch first? A new one or one you guys still remember?”

Reggie perks up. “How about Home Alone?”

She laughs. “See, that’s a tricky one, because there came out more Home Alone movies after ’95. Though I doubt you’d want to watch those.”

“Really? But that kid has to be, like, ancient now. Who cares if an adult is left alone in a house?”

“It’s a new kid,” she says, “in the newer movies, but they’re not as good. But we can watch the first one. What do you two think?”

“Okay, as long as we’re watching It’s a Wonderful Life next,” says Luke.

“Done,” says Julie. “But after that, I’d like to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. My mom…she really liked that one.” She swallows hard. “It feels so wrong to have Christmas without her.”

The boys all try to comfort her in some way, but of course there’s nothing they can do to make that particular hurt go away. The only thing they can do is ease it.

And so they watch Home Alone. It had become a tradition for Reggie to watch that movie during Christmas after that first time when he was thirteen—so to do it again this Christmas feels comfortingly familiar. He’d always related to Kevin; he wouldn’t be surprised if his parents left him behind when they went on vacation, and he’d wanted to wish his family away many times.

When the credits roll, everyone else is loudly clamoring and sharing opinions, but Reggie is silent.

“Hey, are you okay?” Alex, next to him, asks softly.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lies. Truthfully, he’s feeling kind of strange. The scene in the church between Kevin and his neighbor—it’s a scene he’s watched many times before, but it has never resonated like this with him until now.

He shakes the feeling off and they move on to It’s a Wonderful Life, Luke’s own christmas tradition—a movie he used to watch with his parents. After which they watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, wrapping up their movie night.

“I’m surprised you guys didn’t want to watch Die Hard,” Julie says, after her laptop is closed. “I mean, you were teenage boys in the nineties.”

Alex gets all squinty-eyed the way he always does when he’s about to share a potentially controversial opinion. “I never really viewed Die Hard as a Christmas movie.”

“I never saw it,” Luke says. “But I’m pretty sure it is, it’s set during Christmas Eve, right?”

“Don’t ask me,” Julie says when he looks at her. “I never watched it either. I was just wondering.”

“Julie, come help set the table!” rings the voice of Victoria, here for their yearly dinner.

“Coming!” Julie shouts before giving them an apologetic smile.

“This was fun,” Reggie says. “Thanks, Julie.”

“Yeah, definitely,” says Alex.

“Completely,” Luke chimes in. “We really appreciate this, Julie.”

The boys all smile at her, turning Julie’s own smile more genuine before she leaves the room.

Five seconds later, she comes back.

“Get off of my bed! And get out of my room, no lingering!”

They poof out to the garage, chuckling.

* * *

The thing is, Reggie can’t stop thinking about it. It feels a little ridiculous, to be obsessing over a scene in a movie, but he’s pretty sure that’s what those movies are supposed to be all about; a message or a lesson or whatever.

This is how he finds himself knocking on Julie’s bedroom door, almost a week after they all watched movies together.

“Come in.” He does. She glances up from where she’s doing homework at her desk. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you could help me find my parents,” he blurts out.

Julie blinks. “Oh. Okay. …Are you sure?”

She must have heard something about what Reggie’s parents were like from Luke or Alex, he deduces. Or maybe Julie’s picked up on the reason why he likes to spend time around Ray even if he can’t see him, the reason he flinches sometimes when doors get slammed or voices get raised. Julie’s smart like that. Or he’s just really obvious. Or both.

 _At least you’ll know, then you could stop worrying about it and you won’t have to be afraid anymore,_ Kevin McCallister told his neighbor in the church.

Reggie nods. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“Okay,” she repeats, giving him a smile. “What are their names?”

* * *

They got the divorce.

He doesn’t know why this surprises him. They were always at each other’s throat, sometimes to the point of physical violence. Reggie was the only reason they were still together, and even that was barely enough. With him gone, well. There was no reason to stay together anymore.

It’s just weird. He can’t picture their parents living good, healthy lives away from each other and yet that’s exactly what they have achieved.

All it took was Reggie dying.

“You okay?”

After visiting his parents’ respective new houses with him, Julie followed him to the beach where his old house used to be. So many times has he stood here in the salty air wishing for things to be better.

“Yeah, it’s just…” He lets out a shaky breath. It’s dusk and the sky is alight with pretty colors. “You know, Luke and Alex and you, you’re my family, and I love you guys.”

Julie smiles brightly. “I love you, too.”

It makes him smile, but it fades.

In the church, the neighbor said to Kevin: _How you feel about your family is a complicated thing. Deep down, you’ll always love them. But you can forget that you love them, and you can hurt them and they can hurt you. And that’s not just because you’re young._

“They were my family, too. They sucked, big time, but the way they managed to move on… My dad doesn’t even have any pictures of me, his dead son, in his new house with his new family. I remember shouting and creative insults and it turns out _I_ was the one keeping them together, keeping them in that stifling house.”

“Reggie…”

“And it’s gone. That house is gone,” he says, frustrated, gesturing at the bike shack. “I always expected it to just be there. All my flannel and country CD’s and worn text books for school, stored in my mess of a room. It’s gone. They’re gone.”

The wind picks up and disperses footprints left behind on the sand.

“It would’ve been nice to hug them and say goodbye, that’s all,” he finishes, avoiding her gaze, feeling selfish. Luke and Alex didn’t get to do that either, after all.

“I know,” is what Julie says, quiet and understanding. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to.”

After that the only sound between them are the rhythmic waves. He doesn’t mind. They’re silent for a while.

“Thanks for coming with me,” he says, suddenly feeling a little embarrased. “I know this wasn’t exactly a cheerful way to spend one of the last days of this year.”

Julie suddenly looks completative. “I don’t know, I think we can still salvage this.” He watches curiously as she gets her smartphone out of her pocket. “Way more convenient than CD’s.”

“I actually kind of miss them,” he says lightheartedly, though he means it. CD’s, VHS tapes, bulky television instead of flatscreens. It’s like he blinked and they were replaced. Easier to use and he definitely likes the new changes, but he also misses the old stuff, misses his old life (misses _being_ alive, really).

A familiar song starts playing from Julie’s phone.

“Hey, this came out last year.”

Julie gives him a look. “It came out in ’94.”

“That’s what I said.” Reggie listens to the lyrics, thoughtful. “People still listen to this song?”

“Oh, yeah. Too much,” she says, face scrunching up a little. “It’s become one of those Christmas songs that you just get sick of hearing.”

His eyebrows raise. “Huh. Didn’t see that coming.”

The slow part of the song ends and it picks up in pace. Julie starts singing along. _“I don't want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need._ ”

With a chuckle, he joins in. “ _And III…_ ”

She grins. “ _Don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree._ ”

They keep singing, attracting looks from other people taking a december walk on the beach. But they only see a girl with her smartphone belting out a Christmas song days after Christmas. Julie doesn’t let it bother her.

“ _I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know_ ,” they sing. “ _Make my wish come true_.”

“ _Baby, all I want for Christmas…_ ” The next line is a high note and they mangle it on purpose. They go, as out of tune as they can: “ _Youuuuuuuuuu. Youuu, baby._ ”

They burst out laughing. It’s not so much a quiet chuckle as much as it is an eruption, all consuming and loud, their whole bodies shaking.

 _This is a good memory_ , he thinks to himself. One he intends to keep for bad days.

One their laughter subsides, he asks, “Julie?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

She lifts an eyebrow. “You already thanked me.”

“I meant…for being my friend.”

Julie smiles.

“Well, thank you for exactly the same.”


End file.
